Help the Hungry: Craig David, Tinie Tempah and KSI join us in the kitchen for our Christmas appeal

Musical trio chop veg and pack meals for vulnerable children as our campaign raises £10m to fight food poverty

Evgeny Lebedev, Craig David and KSI prepare meals at Scottish House, Westminster (Lucy Young)

Our campaign was bolstered by the support of Craig David, Tinie Tempah and KSI as the trio joined our volunteers to prepare food for children as part of our Help The Hungry appeal.

The three stars arrived at London Scottish House, a historic venue in Westminster that has been loaned to our appeal in partnership with charity With Compassion, to lend a hand to volunteers including The Independent’s largest shareholder Evgeny Lebedev. They chopped up broccoli and peppers and put freshly cooked meals into Tupperware boxes.

They also took on a speed challenge: who could box up eight meals the fastest? At first singer David narrowly edged past YouTube star KSI. “He’s got an interesting technique,” said KSI. After a photo finish between Lord Lebedev and David, KSI was beaten “by a technicality” when he ran out of Tupperware lids. The team then put the meals on a van to drive to a youth centre in Islington.

The Prospex Youth Centre is a community charity that helps children gain life skills and tackle harmful influences.

Senior youth worker Alan Hopson said: “Food is a big part of our youth club and a valuable tool for teaching life skills and having conversations with our young people who love cooking, learning new skills and trying new food.”

Tinie Tempah (left) takes part in a race against Craig David (right) to package the most meals first (Lucy Young)

A 2019 study by the End Child Poverty Coalition found that Islington had the fourth highest rate of child poverty in the country – 47.5 per cent after housing costs.

Mr Hopson added: “Covid has seriously impacted some families’ ability to cook and provide healthy and nutritious food.”

Lord Lebedev and the three music stars set up outside the youth centre under a gazebo where they handed out meals to the waiting crowd. On the menu were duck noodles with stir-fried vegetables and a four-cheese pasta. One of the children shouted: “Oh my God, it’s KSI.” Another yelled: “I love you Tinie”.

The three stars were also appearing together having released a song called “Really Love”, which also features Yxng Bane and Digital Farm Animals. 

David said: “It was an honour to be able to help The Independent and The Felix Project’s campaign to tackle hunger in some small way. It’s unbelievable that so many people are still hungry and forgotten in one of the richest cities in the world, and I hope everyone can give support and help this issue as best they can.”

As the children headed into the community centre to eat, the three stars spoke about the success of our appeal. KSI said: “It’s amazing that The Independent and the Evening Standard have managed to amass more than £10m in donations. Shout out to everyone who’s donated and supported and everyone who’s volunteered and helped so many people get food inside their stomachs. Let’s keep it up and continue it.”

Tinie Tempah said he hoped he had made a small difference: “Being able to come and do this today with Evgeny, JJ Craig means more than ever at the time we’re in. It’s been great for us to be able to use our platforms to give back. Things like this need to happen more. We’ve got a song out called “Really Love” and, obviously, no pun intended, but this is the sort of love we need to be showing each other right now.”